TV year in review: Good, bad and off key of 2011

FX

"Justified" The FX drama delivered an electrifying sophomore season and one of TV's best baddies: redneck matriarch and moonshine poisoner Mags Bennett (Margo Martindale). But the complicated relationship between U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and his villainous former best friend Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) remains the most compelling part of this outstanding series for me. That gets even thornier in Season 3, which begins Jan. 17. Rest of the Top 15 (in no particular order): "Wilfred" on FX; "Community" on NBC; "Game of Thrones" on HBO; "The Walking Dead" on AMC; "Doctor Who" on BBC America; "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" on Starz; "Strike Back" on Cinemax; "Sons of Anarchy" on FX; "Fringe" on Fox; "Raising Hope" on Fox; "Shameless" on Showtime; "Boss" on Starz; "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX; "Downton Abbey" on PBS."

Daryl Dixon, "The Walking Dead" With a touching and layered performance, Norman Reedus has given what could have been a cold, hard, one-dimensional zombie-killer heart. He's tough, but can be tender. As he's opened up to other survivors, he's slowly revealed how his painful upbringing has made him who he is today. Zombies aren't the scariest thing Daryl faces each day; it's his fear of getting to know anyone, of being bullied, of trusting. RedEye's Best TV Character Tournament Champ

I have a hard time writing a year-end "best" list for TV, simply because I'm not able to watch enough of it to feel that I'm qualified to judge comprehensively enough. So instead of a "best" or "worst" of 2011, I give you 11 awards in various categories. And you helped pick the best TV character of the year. Curt Wagner, RedEye's Show Patrol